Today’s sermon will be onHow to encourage yourself in the Lord.
I Sam. 30:1-6 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;
:2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.
:3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.
:4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
:5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
-Here we see that David’s army was against him, all the homes were burned, and all the family members were taken hostage and David was greatly distressed, but David encouraged himself in the Lord.
-In David’s case, he obeyed God and his reward was that he lost everything and the army that helped him lost everything as well.
-Now his army wants to kill him.
-When serving the Lord, sometimes we don’t understand why God lets things happen. –
-But don’t get discouraged, be like David and encourage yourself in the Lord.
-Today I want to give you 7 ways you can encourage yourself in the Lord.
I John 1:7, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
-The first way a Christian can be encouraged is to remember that he is eternally saved.
-No matter what happens from here on in we can’t lose your salvation.
Ps. 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
-If you are saved, all your sins are forgiven.
-Does your salvation encourage you? That’s why I like soulwinning so much.
-I want people to have what I got.
-However if your not saved, you have no eternal future to be encouraged about until you get saved.
Phil. 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
-The second way a Christian can be encouraged is to remember that he doesn’t have to worry.
-Regardless of your circumstances you can have peace of mind. Give it to God
I Pet. 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Do you have peace of mind?
Phil. 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
-The third way a Christian can be encouraged is to remember that he can forget his past.
-Does your past bother you? Do you have some skeletons in your closet? I did.
-It’s time to clean out your closet and put it behind you.
-We don’t have to let our past bring us down and discourage us.
-God forgave us, we need to forgive ourselves.
I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
-You made some real dumb mistakes, stand in line.
-Confess them to God and he will give you peace.
-By the way, if you make more dumb mistakes in the future, you can confess them to God and he will give you peace.
II Cor. 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
-The fourth way a Christian can be encouraged is to remember that when he is weak God is strong.
-When you do right and all seems lost hang tight because God will rise to the occasion.
-Remember that in the first chapter of Genesis we find that after God spoke, things were created.
-God is powerful enough to help you.
-The same one who spoke the universe into being is behind you if you are saved and doing right.
-David had a mess on his hands, ever been there. God bailed him out.
-God hasn’t changed. He can bail you out to.
-Do you have a when I am weak He is strong testimony?
Rom. 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-The fifth way a Christian can be encouraged is to remember that he doesn’t have to worry about the present, future, or of the things of this world.
-Do you believe God’s in control? God has it all covered.
Rom. 8:16-17 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
-The sixth way a Christian can be encouraged is to remember what he has waiting for him in eternity.
-A Christian has eternal riches.
-By the way, God calls the Christian to suffer with him.
-If we serve the Lord, God promises us suffering.
-However if we sin against God, he also promises us suffering.
-Folks, the bad news is that we live in a fallen world full of suffering. There is no escape.
-However, the good news is we can choose our sufferings.
-Choose to serve God and suffer with him, because one day you will be glorified with him in heaven and will receive a reward for your service.
I Cor. 15:51-54 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
-When Christ returns we will meet him in the air and get a perfect body forever.
-No more doctor bills or health insurance premiums.
-No more aches, pains, funerals and sickness.
John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
-Jesus is building a mansion for each saved Christian.
-One that won’t need any maintenance.
Rev. 21:3-4 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
-You can see God and you will live in a sin free environment
-I can’t wait to walk with God everyday, like Adam and Eve did in the garden before the fall in Genesis chapter 3.
-I can’t wait to live in an environment where there will be no more sorrow, crying, pain, tears, wars, diseases, sicknesses, divisions, prejudices, bad weather, etc.
-What’s great about all this is this environment will last forever.
-It makes our life down here easier to deal with knowing it’s only temporary before we receive our eternal reward.
-Finally, because we are saved, we get to escape eternal fire and damnation.
Rev. 20:14-15 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
-However if you are not saved, you will not escape the lake of fire.
-You will burn forever and ever.
-However, the Lord doesn’t want you to burn for ever and ever, he wants you to get saved.
-If you would like to be saved and be 100% sure when you die you will go to heaven, listen closely, and I will tell you how.